Yorkshire will make the two candidates in the England and Wales Cricket Board
chairman's election sweat over their support after their board decided to
wait at least a week before advising chairman Colin Graves which way to cast
the county's vote.

Lord Marland, who is challenging the incumbent Giles Clarke for the chair, addressed the full committee yesterday and set out his plans for the organisation, should he be successful.

Graves met with Marland before the former Conservative Party treasuer declared his candidacy, and yesterday said he remained undecided about the election: "I have always said we are very open-minded at Yorkshire and that is still the case," he said. "We gave Jonathan Marland a chance to set out his case and I will now give the board time to reflect before they pass their views to me in time for the vote in a week's time."

The 18 county chairmen and the MCC have until the end of next week to return private postal ballots that will decide the election.

Yorkshire are crucial to Marland's chances of success as they were among the big counties he hoped to secure as part of his core support coming into the election.

With a major Test ground – Headingley – and with perhaps the most established club cricket brand in the world, their endorsement would be valuable, all the more so following the MCC committee's decision to back Clarke taken earlier this week.

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That endorsement delighted the Clarke camp, which now believes that as many as two-thirds of the 19-strong electorate have already returned their ballot papers in his favour.

If that is the case then, with the winning candidate requiring only a simple majority, the election is already over, but the Marland camp contests that view. His cause is not helped, however, by the continuing resistance of at least four county chairmen to even meet with him, a remarkable stance given the stakes.

There are also signs that he may be preparing an exit strategy in the event of a defeat, with suggestions that he will continue to hold the leadership of Clarke to account from outside the organisation in the future.